Oscar Nominations 2018: Hits & Misses!

Comedian and actress Tiffany Haddish (of Girl’s Trip fame) alongside actor and director Andy Serkis (Star Wars fame) announced the nominees for the 90th Academy Awards on the Tuesday. They did so with the help of other actors and celebrities like our very own Priyanka Chopra and others including Gal Gadot, Salma Hayek, Rosario Dawson, Michelle Rodriguez, Zoe Saldana, Rebel Wilson, Michelle Yeoh and Molly Shannon.

The movie to take the lead in the nominations list was Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water which received over 13 nominations altogether. The movie is set during the cold-war era and tells the story of a mute cleaner who falls for an unlikely sea creature. The cleaner is played by Sally Hawkins. The movie is Del Toro’s ode to outcasts and has received a nod by the Academy.

Close on the heels of The Shape of Water is Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, which is the story of the evacuation of the British, French and Belgian forces during World War II. As usual, there were a few snubs and surprises. Here’s a look at some of them.

Snubs

Firstly, Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkin’s Wonder Woman which gained much popularity among the masses this past year for bringing back a woman superhero to the fold of popular superheroes was given a miss by the Academy.

James Franco who faced a media storm after being accused of sexual misconduct with some of his students at his acting school was also not nominated. He however won the Golden Globe for his movie The Disaster Artist.

Director Steven Spielberg’s The Post which was based on the real life battle between the press and the government about the cover-up of the Vietnam War, received a nomination for Best Actor with legendary actress Meryl Streep but the lead actor Tom Hanks failed to make the cut.

Kumail Nanjiani’s The Big Sick was perhaps the most talked about movie this year but was only nominated in the Best Original Screenplay category.

German Drama In The Fade by Diane Kruger which received a Golden Globe was snubbed too.

Surprises

The British actor Daniel Day Lewis’s last movie The Phantom Thread received much love from the Academy with over six nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Daniel Day Lewis) and Best Supporting Actress (Lesley Manville).

There were also some history makers like cinematographer Rachael Morrison being nominated for her movie Mudblood which makes her the first woman in the 90 years of the award show to be nominated in that category. R&B legend Mary J Blige also created history by being the first person to be nominated in the acting and original song category for the same movie. Director Dee Rees became the first black woman ever to be nominated for adapted screenplay.

Two 89-year-old legends Meryl Streep and John Williams became the oldest nominees ever with their nominations for Best Actor and Best Original Score respectively.

Hugh Jackman’s Logan became the first comic book movie to be nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.

The 90th Academy Awards will take place on the 4th of March at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and will be hosted by late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel and will be televised live.